Heartland Academy School Festival
by theabridgedkuriboh
Summary: It's time for the Heartland Academy School Festival. All of the students are getting ready to entertain and attract new students to join their school. All seems to be normal but when Yuma is taken hold of by the female students of his class, he's dragged into something he never wanted to be apart of. This story is dedicated to CatNinja0122 and Bakurafangurl91


What's up fans of Zexal. It is me again. I have brought out yet another fic for this part of the internet.

Just to point out, this story is not to be taken seriously. So, if some parts are a bit OOC (i hope not though) don't pay too much of it. I was just bored and decided to finish this one shot up. I just really love to mess around with Yuma. It's so very fun.

So, I'm dedicating this weird one shot that has no meaning what-so-ever so both CatNinja0122 and Bakurafangurl91. I'm dedicating it to Kat-chan because I wrote it originally for her because of reasons. And to Yami because it's her birthday. YAY *throws confetti*

Enjoy the randomness that is Heartland Academy School Festival.

This story has cross-dressing, cosplay, and hints of Sharkbaitshipping (THAT'S MY SHIP :P)

* * *

Heartland Academy School Festival

It was a beautiful morning in Heartland city, the sun shined down from the heavens making the illusion of a perfect day. Not a cloud in the sky. Everything seemed perfect. However, things would be just that for the duel champion Yuma Tsukumo, if he wasn't running late for school. Again! His feet pounding into the sidewalk as he ran in place, waiting for the light to change from red to green, this seemed to happen every day as if it were a ritual. Astral floated beside him, a hand over his face as he watched Yuma. He couldn't believe after all the time he had known the young duelist, he still couldn't get out of bed on time. It was embarrassing for both Yuma and himself. And no one could even see him!

"Yuma, why is it that you can never get to school on time?" Astral asked.

Yuma stopped running in place and looked over at the translucent Astral being with a pout. "Well it's not my fault Kari doesn't wake me up." He put his hands on his hips before muttering to himself about Astral being nosy in his business. Astral just shook his head and floated beside him as he started to run across the street now that the light had finally turned green.

Speeding down the streets in the direction of Heartland Academy, Yuma continued to ramble on about being late, whereas Astral decided to leave Yuma be and went back inside the key, mostly because it was quieter in there. Yuma took no notice to his disappearance.

Running down the stairs, taking two steps at a time he scampered down the steps. After a few steps he leaped down, landing, barely on his two feet. Quickly regaining his balance, Yuma continued off until his school building appeared before him.

* * *

It was about half way through the school day, Yuma was pumped up which meant one thing. Duel period. Duel Period was Yuma's favorite time of day, besides lunch of course. He always got a thrill from dueling new opponents each day and testing his skills.

However, it has been harder to find a duel since he had become duel champion. Everyone says that its impossible for them to beat him because of his skill level and that it wasn't fair because of his champion status. But Yuma didn't mind, even if he fought against the same person every day he wouldn't mind it as long as he got a challenge. So he would usually duel against Bronk since he would never refuse, unless he was getting bored.

But today was different, Yuma wanted to duel someone else. He enjoyed dueling against Bronk, but today he wanted to try his strategies against someone else. So, as Yuma stepped out into the duel fields, looking out into the distance as he admired everyone's duels, he kept a look out for the one he had in mind. His blood-red eyes gazing over the area with a look of determination behind his smiling face.

Tori stood beside him, she was curious about what it was he was doing. She watched as he looked around with great concentration. She had never seen her friend think so much her life. It was quite a rare sight.

"Yuma, what are you doing? Shouldn't you be out dueling?" Tori asked.

Yuma stopped his frantic search for a moment to look back at Tori. "Well, yeah, I was getting to that. I'm just looking for the right opponent." Yuma answered.

"Well, who are you looking for exactly?" Tori asked. She looked back at Yuma, only to see that he was once again looking around, completely ignoring her. Tori sighed in defeat, then pouted and putting her hands on her hips, she wasn't amused that her friend was ignoring her, but she was glad that he was so determined.

"Ah ha!"

Tori flinched as Yuma's loud voice rang through her ears. She looked back over in Yuma's direction, only to see the spot empty. She looked out into the fields to see her friend running through the area towards the west side. A sweat drop rolled down her cheek as she watched Yuma leave.

"He left me." She hummed to herself angrily before stomping her foot. "That jerk, and to think I was going to cheer him on."

Tori huffed before walking away, going to find Rio and watch her duel instead. She always seemed to get into the ice queen's duels.

Yuma sped across the duel field with a smile on his face as he ran, his eyes locked with his next possible dueling opponent. His heart pounded in his chest, his lungs burned as he puffed for air. But to Yuma, this was nothing. He wasn't going to stop. He had a duel to win.

"Shark." He shouted, trying to get the older student's attention. He looked ahead to see that his call was left unheard as Shark left from his spot on the wall and started to walk away. Yuma, seeing this as a problem, sped up making sure that his prey did not leave his sight. "Shark, hey."

Shark finally turned around after he started climbing up the steps to the rooftop. He watched as Yuma ran up to him, out of breath and tired.

"Yuma, what do you want?" Shark asked.

Yuma took a few more gasps of air before responding. "Let's have a duel Shark." He smiled before standing up straight to face Shark. "What do you say?"

Shark sighed before putting one hand on his hip. "What makes you think I want to duel you? Maybe I like to use duel period as a relaxation period."

Yuma blinked before grabbing Shark's wrists and chuckling with glee. "Well why didn't you just tell me that? Can I come with you?"

Shark raised an eyebrow, "You do realize that a "relaxation period" means no dueling right?" Yuma nodded.

"And you know that means silence, so no speaking." Yuma nodded again. "So you understand that-!"

"Come on Shark, I understand what you mean. I may want to duel really badly but I think a relaxation period sounds nice." Yuma argued.

Yuma wasn't lying. He may want a duel, very badly, but he duels every day, during and after school. He was almost positive that one break wouldn't kill him. Besides, he wanted to spend some time with his friend.

Shark sighed in defeat before continuing up to the rooftop. "Well then if you're coming then hurry up. It's almost time to go back to class soon."

Yuma's smile brightened at that answer. He was glad that Shark was letting him come up to the roof; he knew that Shark liked to be alone but he was appreciative that Shark was allowing him to invade his personal time.

With a laugh escaping his lips, Yuma ran up the stairs after Shark, happiness overflowing inside his very soul.

"Thanks Shark."

"Whatever."

* * *

The school day came to an end; Yuma was at his locker, a smile on his face as he placed his books into his bag. He looked over at his locker door, a small calendar was placed there, reminders for duels and events were listed on different days. This weekend, circled in red pen was the Heartland Academy School Festival. Yuma was excited. This festival meant possible new rivalry for the young duelist, as he was "itching" for a new opponent. These school festivals were to help bring in new interest and students from other schools. He was curious to see who would come.

"This festival is gonna rock, I'm so excited."

Closing his locker door, Yuma came face to face with his friend Cathy. He jumped in fright and Kathy flinched.

"Hey Yuma." Cathy said, in a shy tone.

"Jeez, Kat, you scared me." Yuma cried.

She smiled shyly before responding. "Sorry Yuma, I just have a huge favor to ask you."

Yuma blinked. "Yeah sure, what did you have in mind?"

Grabbing Yuma's wrist, Cathy started dragging him off towards the classroom. Yuma let out a cry of surprise at how sudden it happened. He didn't understand what was going on.

"K-Kat, what's going on?" Yuma asked.

Cathy didn't reply, but tightened her grip around his wrist and continued to usher him down the school hallway. As they ran, Yuma caught a glimpse of Shark on his motorcycle, speeding off and away from the academy building. Yuma smiled to himself before looking back in front him, almost forgetting that Cathy was pulling on him.

With a swift motion, Cathy pulled him into one of the nearby classrooms, which happened to be his usual classroom. Ironic! Waiting inside the room was none other than Tori, Rio and some of the other girls from the usual class.

Cathy let go of Yuma's wrist, he almost immediately rubbed it to rid the pain thanks to her tight hold on him and her claws would occasional poke his flesh.

"What exactly is going on here?" Yuma asked.

The girls all looked over at Yuma, they had looks of desperation and some even had pleading looks. Yuma was starting to get nervous. He was never good around girls. He always thought his bad ways with the female population was why Tori always got violent with him, pulling his ear and with soft light threats.

Yuma took a few steps back and waited for someone to respond to his question. The girls looked around, looking more specifically over at Tori. Tori could feel their gazes on her and decided that it was her duty to step up and take action.

"Yuma, I don't ask much of you but this is a serious situation and I, no _we_ need your help." Tori spoke as she looked Yuma in the eye. She cupped her hands together and squeezed them tight. "It's going to be hard convincing you, but we didn't know where else to turn. Everyone else rejected our pleads so we had to turn to you."

Yuma felt a bit insulted that he was the last choice but from Tori's tone, he knew that was growing worried and more desperate by the minute. He relaxed a bit and walked over to his friend. "What's up Tor? What do you need me to do?"

Tori looked over at Rio, who gave her a nod of encouragement. Tori continued on with her speech. "The school festival is coming up. I know that you're excited and that you were going to help Ray with his cosplay show, but we need some help with our own attraction. See, Meredith broke her leg so she's stuck in the hospital for the next month on bed rest. We don't have enough workers. And-"

"Tori, just tell me what you need me to do. Do you need me to help you work or something?" Yuma asked.

Tori fidgeted in her place and tapped her fingers together. "See, we need another server for our café and we were hoping you could fill her place. You're the only one left in the class who can help us out. Everyone else said no. Please Yuma." Tori was begging for Yuma to help. They were all out of options.

"M-Me?! You want me to work as a server? Tori, you do realize how bad an idea that is, right?" Yuma countered.

"You don't think I know that. We all know how incredibly clumsy and unreliable you are, but we really need you here with us Yuma. We can't handle all the visitors on our own. That would be too many tables to each person. With you, we can all have our respected tables and serve and cook in peace without freaking out and stressing out. You're our only hope believe it or not!" Tori replied as she raised her voice.

Yuma sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He was so conflicted at the thought of having to work at a café full of girls, serving people and having to not drop anything. It was a hard to believe situation.

"What will you do if Ray refuses to let me leave his show?! Ray was really looking forward to me helping him out. I can't just abandon him." Yuma asked as he thought back to his friend.

"Look Yuma," Rio stepped up this time. "I know that you want to help you friend, but this is serious. The café makes a lot of money for our school. The cosplay show is strictly for entertainment and interaction. The student council is counting on stands like ours to draw in the crowds and raise money for the school. I'm sure Ray will understand so we need your help." Rio was not going to take "no" for an answer. She was determined to get Yuma to join their café. She was running this café for the festival, she was the hostess, so she needed as many helpers as possible.

Yuma was beginning to feel the intimidation of the girls as they kept their gazes on him. Rio's gaze was bad enough as she was practically glaring at him. He knew that there was no backing out. He was going to be dragged into this café thing somehow anyways, so he saw no way out.

"I guess I don't have much of a choice now, do I?!" Yuma groaned. Tori and Rio smiled and the rest of the girls began to talk among themselves. "I guess I'm in."

Tori and Rio gave each other a high-five and smiled. "Thank you so much Yuma. I promise we'll repay you somehow." Tori exclaimed with joy in her tone.

Yuma shrugged his shoulders. "It's no problem I guess." Yuma looked around before asking, "So, can I go now? I want to get to dueling."

Rio nodded and Yuma was quickly out the door. He was still confused and worried about becoming a server, but he was sure that it wasn't going to be as bad as he thought it would be.

* * *

It was the day of the Heartland Academy school festival. All the students were buzzing with excitement about their choice of attraction and were setting up. At the café with Tori and the others, Yuma was helping by setting tables. It wasn't anything too hard. Tori was starting him off small so that he could work his way up.

Yuma would set the tables with table cloths and rolled up napkins with forks, spoons and knives. It was pretty easy for him, but he felt it was a bit degrading because he felt that he was being underestimated. He wanted to do more. He didn't feel all that useful. He felt he could do so much more.

He stood up tall, his back was beginning to ache but he decided to ignore it. He looked over at Tori who was decorating the room with all kinds of cutesy decorations. "Hey Tori, what do you want me to do now?"

Tori stopped what she was doing and turned to face her friend. "Just talk the sign and use the chalk to write the menu. After that, you're done and you can do and see Rio."

Yuma nodded in response and walked over the folded down sign that sat on one of the back tables and grabbed a piece of white chalk and began to write the menu down. He tried to be as neat as possible. When he was finished, he stepped back and Tori walked over to him and checked out the sign.

"Thanks Yuma, but it's so dull and plain." Tori said. She grabbed a piece of pink and green chalk and began to draw cute little pictures on the menu board with smiley faces and swirled lines. After that, she stepped back and smiled at the finished creation. "There, now it's perfect." She took the sign down and handed it to Yuma."Here you go Yuma. Place the sign out in front of the classroom. The girls and I are going to start changing. Wait out here until everyone's finished. After that, we'll let you in so you can change as well."

Yuma nodded and went to go and place the sign out front of the classroom and Tori walked away to join the rest of the girls in changing into uniform. He stepped out into the hallway and placed the sign against the door. After that, he looked around. He saw the rest of the students in costumes and others were monitoring the halls to make sure everything was running smoothly.

"Yuma, hey Yuma," Yuma turned around and saw Ray running over towards him. He was in his Dandylion cosplay. Ray stood by his friend and tried to catch his breath. "How's the café thing going?"

Yuma scratched his cheek. "Well, I haven't really done anything yet. The real fun starts when we open I guess."

Ray nodded with a smile. "Cool. Well I hope you do well. Make us some money. We're counting on you."

Yuma stumbled forward when Ray smacked his shoulder. He was going to complain to his friend but he was already gone. Yuma rubbed his shoulder and walked back inside the classroom. When he did, he saw Tori waiting for him by the door to the back. She was dressed in a maid outfit with the usual head piece. Yuma gave her a look when he stopped in front of her.

"Um, Tor, what are you wearing?" Yuma asked.

Tori blushed and held the ends of her skirt. "This is my uniform. Why else would I be wearing it?!" Tori grabbed Yuma's wrist and lead him inside the back so that he could change. "You need to get into uniform too."

Yuma looked around and saw that all the other girls were in similar uniform, different styles of maid attire. The only acception were the ones who were cooks who were wearing aprons. He felt himself growing nervous to see just what his uniform would look like. Tori stopped and grabbed a hanger from off the wall and handed it to Yuma. Yuma looked down at the hanger and his eyes were practically bulging out of his head.

"You're going to make me wear _this_?" Yuma shrieked as he held it away from him.

Tori hummed and placed a finger to her lips. "Did I forget to mention that we were a maid café?!"

"Yes! That information would have completely changed my answer." Yuma complained

Rio stepped up and gave Yuma a big smile. "Too late. You already agreed and you can't back out now. Your name is already on the roster. You fail to help out, you get detention for a week."

"What? That's so unfair." Yuma cried.

Rio reached behind her and Tori placed a small bag in her hands. "You'll need these." Rio handed the bag to Yuma and pushed himself the changing room. "Be out here in ten minutes or else."

Yuma growled and looked at his "uniform" and glared at it. He had no idea that this café was a maid café. He would have scrammed out of the classroom the second he knew what was up. He was a champion duelist. He didn't want anyone to see him in a dress. Especially his friends. He did not want his pride to be taken away because of a maid dress. He hung up the dress and looked inside the bag. He was about to scream when he saw what was inside. Cat ears and a tail! Not only was this a maid café, but they were dressed as cat maids. How messed up this situation was for Yuma!

Yuma took a deep breath and tried to calm down. Rio's words ran through his mind. He knew that he had too do this. He couldn't afford another detention. Kari would kill him if he got any more. He had no choice.

* * *

"Hey Rio, have you seen the note pads? We're about to open." Tori asked from across the room.

"There on the desk." Rio replied.

"Thanks." Tori said as she grabbed the notepads from atop the desk. She turned around to hand out the others when she saw Yuma step out from back. She placed a hand over mouth in an attempt to not giggle. "Oh my gosh Yuma."

Yuma's tan cheeks were completely red as he stepped out. His maid dress was a bit short, barely stopping above his knees, but he had white leggings so that helped a bit. The dress was thankfully a collared dressed so there was no cut out at the top and the sleeves were short. He had the head piece on his head and he wore black dress shoes, girls flats.

"I feel ridiculous. I want to go and crawl in a hole." Yuma said truthfully.

"I think you look adorable." Tori commented. She turned in Rio's direction. "Rio, look at Yuma. Isn't he adorable?!"

Rio looked over in their direction and placed a hand over her mouth. "Oh my gosh."

Yuma placed a hand over his face. "This is so embarrassing. Can we please get this over with so I can salvage what's left of my pride?"

Rio nodded and made her way over to her hostess stand. Tori handed Yuma a notepad and he held it in his hands. Tori could see the nervousness in his features and placed a hand on his arm. "Its going to be okay Yuma. If anyone says anything, just ignore them."

Yuma sighed and nodded. "Let's just do this. I can cross this off my list of "things I never guessed I would ever do" and consider this some kind of an accomplishment."

"That's the spirit." Tori said as she led Yuma over to the doors so that they could greet the guests.

"Are you serious?" Yuma complained.

"Just do it." Rio hissed.

Everyone went silent as Rio walked over to the open classroom door with a pair of scissors. There was already a large crowd gathered out front. She smiled and waved to the crowd of hungry students and visitors of the school. "Welcome to the our lovely maid café. We all hope you enjoy your stay masters and mistresses." Rio brought the scissors to the ribbon and snipped it. The ribbon fell to the floor and everyone began to come inside. Rio did her job at hostessing, leading guests to their tables and the girls-and Yuma walked over their respected tables and began greeting their guests.

* * *

"Can I get the strawberry crêpe?"

"Hot chocolate over here please."

"A Moe Moe Rice Omelet for me please."

The café was as busy as ever for the maid café and all the servers was bustling to get all the orders taken and the chefs were working hard to get all the orders done and out. Yuma was absolutely exhausted. He was worn out from the constant anxiety of that one person coming in and making fun of him their entire stay but so far, no one has judged him. None of his friends have stopped by yet either so he was safe for now. He has had about fifteen customers taken care of and at his three tables in the past forty-five minutes. So far, they've all been tourists checking out the school.

"Strawberry Crepe is in the window."

Yuma walked over to the window and took his order for his second table and greeted them nicely, placing the crêpe in front of the young child who eyed it with his stars practically shining.

"Is there anything else I can get you mistresses?" Yuma asked.

"No, we'll be fine thank you." The mother replied.

Yuma bowed and walked away to greet the first table and check on them. He didn't feel this was so bad. So far, no one has made fun of him so he hasn't lost his will to go on, so that was a plus. He just hoped his luck would last him.

"Excuse me." Yuma quickened his pace to the table. "My friend here would like another order of tea. Is that okay?!"

"Of course not master." Yuma replied. He flipped through the notepad and added another order of tea to the bill before going to set the order.

"Reginald, so glad you could make it."

"Anything for my baby sister."

Yuma stopped in his track as he heard that all too familiar voice. He felt his whole world shatter. His worst fears were realized. He didn't want anyone he knew to see him dressed like this, specifically his guy friends and for him to come in here was the breaking point.

Yuma took another deep breath and began to hope and pray that he would not be placed at his last available table.

"One order of tea." Yuma called to the girls in the back.

"On it."

Yuma turned around to see where he ended up, and to his dismay, he was placed at his available table. Which meant he would see him like this. He would have to serve him as well.

His pride was officially gone. He had nothing to lose at this point.

"Hot Chocolate in the window."

Yuma grabbed the cup of hot chocolate and brought it to the table that ordered it and walked over towards the other table where he sat and flipped to a fresh page.

"Welcome to the maid café. I'll be your server. What can I get you, master?" Yuma said in greeting.

Shark looked over at Yuma and looked him up and down. "How did _this_ happen? Lose a bet?"

Yuma sighed. "I wish that was it but no." Yuma clicked his pen. "What can I get you, master?"

Shark smirked and looked up at the ceiling. "Well this is just great. I never thought I would see the day. This must be some weird dream but I'm going with it." Shark was only teasing. Yuma knew this but it was a bit irritating. "I'll take some tea and an order of pocky."

Yuma wrote his order down and bowed to Shark. "I'll have your order ready in a moment, Shark-sama."

"Shark-sama, I like the sound of that. Say it again." Shark said.

Yuma had to resist the urge to make an annoyed remark and walked away. He relayed the order to the girls in the back who began to work on it and took the order of tea that was ready and brought it to his other occupied table.

"Hey Yuma," Yuma looked over at Shark who was smiling at him, that devilish smile. "I like that dress on you. You should wear it more often."

Yuma blushed and glared at him. Shark just grinned even bigger. He was having a little fun with Yuma. He couldn't help it. Seeing the peppy and energetic duelist in a maid outfit serving him was quite a rare sight and once in a lifetime opportunity.

Yuma took Shark's order from the window and placed it in front of him. "I have your tea and your pocky for you, master. Is there anything else I need to get you?"

"Nah, that's it for now. You're doing a good job. I'm impressed." Shark replied. He took a sip of his tea.

Yuma bowed again to Shark and walked away to check on his other tables and get them cleaned up. Right now, Shark was his only customer and the café was beginning to die down. He had no one else to serve until more customers come in and need to be served. He felt it was finally his chance to rest.

Shark placed a stick of pocky in his mouth and watched Yuma from his table. He watched as the black and red-haired duelist walked over to his sister, his cat tail wagging as he did from the dress skirt pushing against it. He didn't know if his remarks to his friend made his sound rude but he was seriously enjoying this. Yuma looked really good in the dress, he couldn't help but tease him.

Rio walked over to her brother's table and sat down in front of him. The café was at a small stand still thanks to the announcement part of the festival which brought almost all the people to the auditorium. She was free for a bit to talk to her brother.

"So, how's my brother? Are you enjoy the café?" Rio asked.

Shark shrugged his shoulder's. "It's not doing too bad."

Rio rolled her eyes. "That's all you have to say. You're not even curious about why we have Yuma in a dress?"

"Well I was kind of curious. Why is that anyways?" Shark asked.

Rio stole a stick of pocky from her brother and placed it in her mouth. "We didn't really give him much choice. We needed one last person and I wasn't going to take no for an answer. And thus, cute little Yuma is my slave and I got to see him in a dress. That's just a nice bonus."

"You are evil Rio." Shark commented as he shook his head. He gave his sister a side glance and smiled. "Nice job."

Rio gave her brother a high-five from underneath the table and smiled. "I knew you would like it Reginald."

Shark raised an eyebrow. "What does that mean?"

Rio stood up from the table and walked away. Shark watched his sister walk away, his question left unanswered.

Shark finished up his tea and placed another pocky stick in his mouth and stood up from his table. He placed his money on the table and made his way towards the door.

"Shark, hey wait." Yuma said calling out to him.

Shark stopped right before the door and watched as Yuma ran over to him. He looked away as Yuma stopped behind him. "What is it?"

"Please don't tell anyone I'm dressed up like this? I'm begging you." Yuma said.

Shark looked over his shoulder. "Now why would I do? It's none of my business."

Yuma smiled. "Thanks Shark."

Shark pulled out a pocky stick, turned to face Yuma and placed it forcefully into his mouth. Yuma was surprised when Shark did this. "Shut up." Shark leaned in and took the other end into this mouth and bit it off. Their lips did in fact touch but Shark didn't care. He pulled away and ate away at the pocky. "Later."

Yuma watched his friend leave the café. His face was red and beating hot. He placed a hand over his mouth. He clenched his fist and cried out in embarrassment. "Gah, what the heck was that?!"

"It's called a kiss. Never heard of one." Rio replied as she walked up behind Yuma, a grin spread across her lips.

Yuma turned to face Rio and glared. "Yes, I know what a kiss is. But why shark gave me one is the weird part."

Rio rolled her eyes. "You're so naïve Yuma. It's pathetic."

"Hey!"

"But my brother seems to like that about you. So don't worry about it. Just get ready. We need to get ready for the next rush." Rio said as she finished her statement. She walked away, back to her podium.

Yuma sighed and walked back to his own tables and began to clear them off and wipe them down.

* * *

The maid café was ending soon, everyone was coming in for last-minute orders so the café was filling up and the line was growing. The servers were once again rushing to get orders in and the chefs were doing their best to get orders out.

"Banana and strawberry crêpe in the window."

"Pocky and hot chocolate in the window."

Tori would steal glances of Yuma every so often as she rushed back and forth from taking orders to retrieving orders. She was impressed that he's lasted this long but he's been a bit weird since break. He seems to keep looking over the door as if he's expecting someone.

"Tori, what can I do?" Ray asked.

Tori looked over her friend who had just recently join in on the rush since his cosplay show had ended early. He even obliged to putting on a maid outfit which was surprising in itself.

"Can you help Yuma? He seems to be a bit behind." Tori replied.

Ray nodded and walked over to Yuma to help him out. Tori then continued on with her own work.

"Yuma, let me handle table two. You can handle the rest." Ray said as he grabbed table two's order.

"Thanks Ray." Yuma replied as he grabbed table's one and three's orders. He walked over to table one first and greeted them, handing them their food and then walking over to table three and doing the same for them.

"Hey Yuma," Rio shouted from her hostess stand. Yuma looked back at her. "One order of pocky to go."

Yuma went to place the order in and walked over to Ray. "Hey, why did you volunteer to do this anyways?"

Ray shrugged his shoulders. "You had to skip out on me to do this, so I felt like it was my duty to help you out."

Yuma sweat dropped. "That doesn't make much sense but alright."

"Pocky is in the window."

Yuma grabbed the order of pocky and walked over to Rio and handed it to her. She smiled at Yuma. "Thanks Yuma."

Yuma walked away from Rio and back to Ray. "Keep up the good work, Ray."

"You too, Yuma." Ray replied as he went back to his own tables that have started to clear up.

* * *

The festival was over for the day. Yuma walked out of the changing room and saw that Rio and Tori were waiting for him. Everyone else had already gone home for the day.

"Ready Yuma?" Tori asked.

"Yeah, I've had enough of this place for one day." Yuma groaned.

The three then exited the classroom and entered the hallway, when they did, they found someone waiting for them.

Rio smiled. "Reginald, what are you still doing here? Did you come to pick me up? I already told you, I'm going to the mall."

Shark rolled his eyes. "I'm not here for you and you know it."

"Well then who are you here for?" Tori asked.

"I just came to make sure you guys got our okay." Shark said as he opened up his fresh box of pocky. "Thanks for the pocky sis. I needed a refill."

"You've seriously grown an addiction to them." Rio commented.

Shark glared at his sister who grinned. Rio gave Tori a gentle nudge and the two headed out on their own, leaving Yuma behind because they were going their separate ways anyway.

Yuma didn't look in Shark's direction. Just seeing him brought back flashbacks of their kiss. And the pocky wasn't helping.

"You're avoiding me." Shark said.

"I'm not avoiding you if I'm right here." Yuma mumbled. He started walking away. He had places he wanted to be. He wanted to go home and work on his deck since his feet hurt like hell. He wasn't really feeling a duel today. Shark walked beside him, hands in his pocket and pocky stick in his mouth.

"That may be, but you're still out of it. What's up with you? Did what happened earlier really faze you that much?" Shark asked.. Shark took out a stick of pocky and handed it to Yuma. He didn't look at the younger duelist, just waited to see what his reaction would be. Yuma looked over at Shark from a side glance and then at the pocky. He took the cookie stick from his friend and placed it in his mouth but did not eat it straight away.

"What you did earlier was weird. Your my friend Shark. To have you kiss me so suddenly is-"

"Yuma," Yuma stopped what he was saying and looked over at his friend. "It's not my fault you looked so tempting in that dress."

Yuma blushed again and sped up and away from Shark. Shark sped up as well and grabbed Yuma by his hood. Yuma looked back at Shark.

"You're so stubborn." Shark mumbled. "You can't even take a joke."

"You try wearing a dress and having to serve people for eight hours. It's not fun." Yuma complained.

"You seemed to be having fun though." Shark pointed out. Yuma gave him a look of confusion. "You may have hated the dress, but you seemed to be a natural. You were serving people and placing orders like your life depended on it. You seemed to be enjoying it so much that even Ray joined in on the fun, or so I've heard."

Yuma sighed. "Yeah, well, I couldn't disappoint Tori and the others. It would make us look bad."

They were silent for a moment after that. They let everything sink in. Yuma fidgeted as he stood. Shark shrugged his shoulders after that.

"Let's just go. I'm sure you want to have a duel or something." Shark said.

"Did you mean it?" Yuma asked.

"Did I mean what?" Shark asked.

Yuma pouted. "Were you serious about me looking good in the dress?"

"Why the hell are you so eager to know about that? I thought you hated that thing." Shark asked.

Yuma shrugged. "Just curious."

Shark sighed. "Yeah, you didn't look that bad."

Yuma groaned. "Great, that means everyone's going to bring up."

Astral came out of the key and interrupted the two and their discussion to add his own response. "I think that you looked just fine Yuma."

Yuma felt his shoulders slump. "Yeah, you're not helping."

Shark rolled his eyes and walked past the pesky duelist. "I'm outta here."

"Hey, wait up." Yuma said as he ran after Shark.

The first day of the school festival was done. So far, many new students were interested in coming to Heartland Academy. If you had ask them one reason why they wanted to come here, they would most likely bring up the fact the school is always interesting.

It was a good day in the making, but there were still two more days left of the festival. Much to Yuma's dismay.


End file.
